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Artistry

Extraordinary blue sky
and Japanese artistry
accentuate delicate
petals against the outline
of gnarled branches.
They offer new life, calm
before the storm
of a spring breeze
rips the blossom
from the trees
and fills the Arles air
with sweet almond vapour.

Sumana asks for our literary responses to a non-literary work this week: our motif for today is Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Almond Blossoms’. She has shared quotes on the topic from John W. Gardener and Oscar Wilde, as well as poems by Anne Sexton and Wislawa Szymborska

Thanks Sumana. Vincent finished his Arles Almond blossoms at a time of personal productivity and joy at the birth of his brother’s child. However, it was long before another bout of severe depression and only months before his death. I’ve read several books and articles about him and I’m still not sure whether he shot himself in the stomach (a difficult thing to do) or whether somebody did it to him. There were no forensics in those days and I’m not sure if the police were competent in that kind of investigation, even though he didn’t die until two days later.